Stop Overfunctioning In Your Youth Ministry

 

In her book Leaders Who Last, Margaret Marcuson highlights the importance of balance within our lives and within church ministry. Through her book, she recommends that we dodge the tendency to become what she refers to as an “overfunctioner,” or in other words an individual who does not regulate themselves and who takes on too much responsibility for the various tasks at hand. Are we guilty of being overfunctioners within our own youth ministries? One can’t help but wonder if this may indeed be an important conversation to have when considering that the average tenure of a youth pastor is commonly recognized to be between 2 and 4 years. Let us explore more of what Marcuson has to say on the topic to help us achieve a healthy balance of work and life within our lives.

What is Overfunctioning?
Overfunctioning occurs when we have an unhealthy tendency to dive in and do the majority of the work ourselves in order to complete the items that need to be addressed. Marcuson explains that the cause of this overfunctioning oftentimes occurs when we lack the patience and maturity to wait. Perhaps caused by a growing frustration that something isn’t moving as fast as we would like it to progress within our ministry, it isn’t long until the youth leaders, volunteers, and students become accustomed to the youth pastor saying that they’ll take care of all of the odds and ends associated with running the youth ministry. Finally, after a few short years of intense and demanding youth services, we suddenly are surprised to find ourselves in a state of burnout.

What Causes Overfunctioning?
If we look to a church’s adult ministry as an example, the head pastor cannot tackle every single need that may arise within a given service or throughout the administration of the church. Rather, trustworthy men and women of God are appointed over key ministries such as worship, tech, prayer, etc. The good news is that youth ministry can operate in a similar manner. However, if a model such as this is not implemented within the church’s youth ministry and if an increasing number of tasks are being left for the youth pastor to complete, then it may be an indicator that the ministry’s vision is not clear or not clearly communicated. It’s no secret that volunteers and students are eager to be a part of a movement that positively impacts the kingdom of God. Yet outside of Spirit-filled revival, it is typically only when the churchgoers and lay leaders buy into a church’s vision that real movement and transformation both begin to take place within the community. So instead of rolling our sleeves up and oiling every squeaky wheel or setting up every single PowerPoint slide, it may benefit us more in the long run to take a moment and recast the vision of the youth ministry for those who have been placed in our care. Marcuson agrees, highlighting that when we rush in to do the work that is necessary, we are not only robbing ourselves of our own precious personal time, but we are also robbing the opportunity for someone else to have the chance to serve the Lord with the spiritual gift(s) that they possess.

Leadership Brings Emotional Freedom and Flexibility
One of the noteworthy quotes from Marcuson’s text is that “perseverance is one of the chores of leadership.” Such wisdom reminds me of James 5:10-11, where Scriptures say that “we call blessed those who showed endurance.” She explains that leadership is moving from controlling others to managing ourselves; that leadership is when we continue to define ourselves and our goals; that leadership is when we balance individuality and togetherness; and that leadership is when we are clear, calm, and confident in communicating the direction of the vision that we are casting. However, even with these truths established, we still must have maturity to understand that culture change is almost always evolutionary instead of revolutionary. It is when we have this realization that we’ll be able to achieve what Marcuson calls “emotional freedom and flexibility,” where we are “less in a position of blaming them and more in a position to appreciate what [volunteers] give [us] and their strengths” (instead of focusing too much on feelings involved with running the ministry). As we move from resentment of incomplete tasks to gratitude of what our amazing volunteers are already providing, it can help us to become more understanding of others’ spiritual journeys and how our ministry’s vision can fully employ the giftings and strengths of those who the Lord has led to be a part of our team.